Down the Security Rabbithole, The BlogThis is a collection of my thoughts and ideas, and anything expressed here is unrelated to anything in real life and does not represent opinions of clients, employers or colleagues. If it feels a little bit like stream-of-consciousness, it probably is.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

"The Jihad Job" ... recruiting via email

An article titled " 'Jihadi job' email to lawyer " on The Telegraph from Calcutta, India caught my attention... and not just because I think that there is plenty of jihad recruiting going on over email and modern technologies but because just recently I wrote about the "Google conspiracy".

I've been keeping track of articles and blogs referencing "cyber jihad" and it's interesting that such a topic is now hitting the main-stream media (at least in India). I wonder if the good folks over at the Googleplex could tell us how many emails (just volume-wise) are sent around GMail every day with the terms "jihad" ... with a recruiting intention.

Makes me wonder whether Google's already doing that sort of analytics already ... or if that's the next step?

1 comment:

First, we would like to start with stating that Islam does not call for violence; rather it abhors all forms of violence and terrorism, whether against Muslims or non-Muslims. Islam, moreover, calls for peace, cooperation, and maintaining justice, and provides for the happiness and welfare of humanity as a whole. This fact is declared in the Qur'an when Allah says: (Allah commands justice, the doing of good, and liberality to kith and kin, and He forbids all shameful deeds, and injustice and rebellion: He instructs you, that ye may receive admonition.) (An-Nahl 16: 90)

Jihad is one of the words that have been misused due to misunderstanding its true meaning. The word “Jihad” is derived from the Arabic word “Jahd” which means fatigue or the word “Juhd” which means effort. A Mujahid is he who strives in the Cause of Allah and exerts efforts which makes him feel fatigued. The word “Jihad” means exerting effort to achieve a desired thing or prevent an undesired one. In other words, it is an effort that aims at bringing about benefit or preventing harm.

Jihad can be observed through any means and in any field whether material or moral. Among the types of Jihad are struggling against one’s desires, the accursed Satan, poverty, illiteracy, disease, and fighting all evil forces in the world.

There are many religious texts that refer to these types of Jihad. Among the forms of Jihad is defending life, property or honor. Those who die while engaging in Jihad are considered to be martyrs, as confirmed by Hadith. Jihad is also done to avert aggression on home countries and on all that is held sacred, or in order to face those who try to hinder the march of the call of truth.

In Islamic Shari`ah, Jihad in the Cause of Allah means fighting in order to make the Word of Allah most high, and the means for doing so is taking up arms in addition to preparation, financing and planning strategies. A large number of people are supposed to take part in Jihad including farmers, craftsmen, traders, doctors, engineers, workers, security men, preachers, writers and all those who directly or indirectly participate in the battle.

This type of Jihad was a major concern of Muslims in the beginning of the formation of the Islamic community, and a lot of verses of the Glorious Qur’an and the Hadith advocated and encouraged it. Almighty Allah says: (March forth, whether you are light (being healthy, young and wealthy) or heavy (being ill, old and poor) and strive with your wealth and your lives in the Cause of Allah.) (At-Tawbah 9: 41) Jihad is considered an individual duty (Fard `Ein), on all Muslims who are capable and fit to fight, in the event of being invaded by the enemy, and is considered a collective duty (Fard Kifayah) in the event of not being invaded. However, if the Imam (leader) calls to Jihad, people must respond to his call. This is evident from Allah’s Saying, (O you who believe! What is the matter with you, that when you are asked to march forth in the Cause of Allah (i.e. Jihad) you cling heavily on the earth?) (At-Tawbah 9: 38), and the Hadith narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim, "When you are called to Jihad, then go forth."

About Me

Technology is pushing us along and becoming pervasive in our lives orders of magnitude faster than we can fully comprehend the ramifications of these changes.

Technology promises to change our lives, but at what price? The more heavily our daily lives rely on technology the greater the impact of a breach or a malicious attack. Our toasters can't kill us ... yet, but I suspect the day is coming.

As someone who has been involved in the defensive enterprise side of security for well over a decade, I emplore you to join me and focus our efforts on building better, more resilient systems which can not only support and enrich our lives, but also stand up to misuse and attack better.

Remember, prevention is a myth the snakeoil sales man sells. Real security comes from the ability to detect, respond, and resolve critical issues in a meaningful way.